Broadening Horizons

A systematic approach to internationalisation is increasing mobility and equipping graduates for the future.

For more than a century, City's location in the heart of a world city and its close ties with business and the professions have helped attract the most able students from around the world. Hailing from some 160 countries outside the UK, international students today comprise over 35 per cent of our 17,000-strong cohort. As a powerful mechanism for enhancing education and research, internationalisation complements the focus on academic excellence articulated in the Strategic Plan 2012-2016. Moreover, international experience can lead to a more open-minded and well-rounded perspective-essential for City graduates entering the highly competitive global employment marketplace.

A warm welcome for international students

To support the University's recruitment targets, the international team makes frequent overseas visits to attend education fairs and undertake one-to-one counselling with students who are interested in studying in the UK. In 2013, the team travelled the world to meet potential City students, visiting countries including Brazil, China, Colombia, Greece, India, Kenya, Morocco, Norway, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Thailand. We also have an extensive worldwide network of representatives to help students with their applications.

2013 saw strong participation in our study abroad initiatives, with 415 single-semester students and 13 year-long students joining the University. Though the majority came from the United States, students also arrived at City from institutions across Europe, Brazil, Hong Kong and Japan. During the same period, approximately 60 outgoing exchange students headed to Australia, the United States, Canada, Hong Kong and nations across Europe.

City has a team of specialist immigration advisers based in the Student Centre who provide support, advice and guidance to international students at all stages of their time with us. In 2013, a new fixed-term post was created in the team to assist with implementing our new Tier 4 visa application service. This means that students are fully supported through the visa application process, applications are checked by an experienced immigration adviser and supporting documents are submitted by the International Advice Team to the Home Office. Offering this service is beneficial to the students and essential to help maintain the University's status as a Highly Trusted Sponsor under the Government's Tier 4 system.

Building relationship though the WC2 Network

An example of City's coordinated approach to internationalisation was the establishment in 2010 of a new model of international network, the World Cities World Class (WC2) University Network, which at present has 12 like-minded members located in the heart of world cities. Each of the founding members brings to the WC2 network expertise on issues such as transport, global health, global culture and sustainability. Relevant staff meet twice a year with the aim of developing proposals for research and educational collaborations in the four thematic areas.

In March 2013, the sixth WC2 meeting took place in New York, hosted by City University of New York (CUNY) at Baruch College. The meeting began with a warm welcome from President Matthew Goldstein and was followed by a panel discussion on 'Challenges of Global Cities and their Global Universities', which included a presentation from Professor Dinos Arcoumanis, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (International & Development). Other topics discussed during the event included global education and the creation of a framework to discuss what globalisation means for universities around the world.

The seventh WC2 meeting took place in October and was hosted by the Politecnico di Milano. Professor Arcoumanis welcomed Tokyo's Meiji University to the WC2 network and we trust that the University of Witwatersrand (Wits), South Africa, will join the WC2 network following its decision to host the next meeting in March 2014.

International partnerships and collaborations

During 2013, a total of 1,620 City students benefited from the University's existing international partnerships with institutions around the world. Offering opportunities to acquire valuable skills, expand professional networks and broaden the mind, these partnerships include the Erasmus Mundus Masters programme, Journalism and Media within Globalisation: The European Perspective, which sees collaboration between City and the University of Wales in Swansea, the University of Aarhus, the University of Amsterdam and the University of Hamburg.

Our relationship with Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics in China enables City undergraduates to deepen their knowledge of a range of engineering disciplines while experiencing life in one of the world's most dynamic emerging markets, while our partnership with Renmin University offers similar opportunities to economics students. The University's strong connections with Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) enhance the Cass Executive MBA proposition and attract postgraduate students to MSc courses in Air Transport Management, Air Safety Management and Aircraft Maintenance management. Meanwhile, our relationship with Laskaridou Library of Piraeus, Greece, is reflected in the LLMs in International Commercial Law and Maritime Law.

2013 also saw the establishment of several new international partnerships for Cass Business School. Agreements with LUISS Universita Guido Carli in Rome and Universita Commerciale Luigi Bocconi in Milan enable students from City to complete an MSc Investment Management or Corporate Finance at Cass and then transfer to Italy to complete their studies. At the end of the course, they are awarded an MSc from each participating institution. A similar arrangement now exists between City and Queen's University, Kingston in Canada, while our relationship with Tilburg University in the Netherlands underpins a new part-time Executive PhD available to candidates working in management or other specialist functional positions.

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